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Bea’s Bad Day: A Big Bright Feelings Book

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Book Synopsis

Bea is REALLY looking forward to her birthday … until things begin to go wrong. A book about managing disappointment, from the bestselling author of the Big Bright Feelings series.

Be open, be honest, be you! Big Bright Feelings for little people.

Bea CAN’T WAIT for her birthday. There are only three days to go, and everything is going to be PERFECT! Then snow begins to block the roads … and everything begins to go wrong. With no party, no cards, and maybe even no cake, can Bea find a way to be OK – even in the middle of a really BAD day?

This reassuring and funny book is the perfect springboard for talking to children about setting expectations and finding balance amidst disappointment.

Tom Percival’s Big Bright Feelings series is the ideal starting point for discussions about mental and emotional health, positive self-image, building self-confidence and managing feelings. Every child’s bookshelf should contain his books.

Also available in the Big Bright Feelings series: Ruby’s Worry, Perfectly Norman, Ravi’s Roar, Meesha Makes Friends, Tilda Tries Again, Milo’s Monster and Finn’s Little Fibs. Collect them all!

Our Review Panel says...

Tom Percival has the knack of using words and drawings to distil the deep feelings of childhood. It’s a formula, but one that works so well. In this latest book to join the series that began with Ruby’s Worry, he addresses the disappointment of ruined plans.

Bea is brimming with excitement that she will be celebrating her birthday with her whole extended family. It will all be perfect! But first, a little snowfall means the postman can’t deliver her presents and then more and more snow means her family can’t make it to her party. As her plans are shattered, jagged lines splinter across the illustrations, symbolising very visually how Bea’s happiness has been broken by disappointment. The rest of the book shows how Bea, helped by the kindness of her family, finds a way to move forward and appreciate that there is more than one way to perfection.

It’s a sweet and hopeful book – fun to read in its own right, but also a great way to discuss uncomfortable feelings with young children. While reassuring the reader that furious misery is normal following disappointment (the emotion is shown so well through the picture of Bea’s face, rather than in words!), embedded in the story is a wise lesson about looking around for small pleasures to stop it ruining a whole day.